


The Key to Malcolm's Heart (And Other Bits)

by capalxii



Series: Longer prompt fills [8]
Category: The Thick of It (TV)
Genre: Cock Cages, Kink Negotiation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 06:41:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4337873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capalxii/pseuds/capalxii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>anonymous prompter: "Julius using a butt plug/cock cage on Malcolm. For further sex." Sadly was not able to write any sex at all, instead this is cock cages and emotions: a slightly bewildered Julius, a Malcolm who wants to ask for a thing that means a lot to him but is struggling with it, mild abuse of Glenn. Established relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Key to Malcolm's Heart (And Other Bits)

“I need you to do. A thing.” Malcolm was staring at some spot on the carpet to Julius’s right, but Julius wasn’t sure he could see the spot himself. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, making his baggy trousers look even worse—one day, Julius thought, he’d take this man to a tailor, get him a suit that fit properly, get him a suit without hideous pleated slacks and maybe in a color that looked less like one that a government committee had vomited out some time in the early nineties.

Julius uncrossed his legs, then thought better of it and crossed them again, putting his cup of coffee down on the table beside him. “Do what kind of thing?”

“A—thing. Can you come over for dinner? We’ll talk about it tonight.”

“A thing which cannot be discussed on government premises,” Julius said, suspicion rising.

“No, it fucking cannot,” Malcolm said. He glared down at Julius. “You’ll understand when we talk.”

“I’d frankly rather understand now,” he said. “Wouldn’t want to enter the lair of the beast with no knowledge of-”

Malcolm held up a hand to cut him off. “It’s not work related,” he said. “It’s, uh. A thing. That’s all.”

Suspicion turned to concern, then to a slight edge of fear. “Malcolm, is everything all right?”

Glaring at him for even daring to ask the question, Malcolm said, “No. I’m with child. It’s Glenn’s but he doesn’t want to take responsibility.”

“I’ll have a chat with him,” Julius said. With a sigh he added, “I suppose we’ll talk more over dinner.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

*

Dinner was as awkward as it could be, full of the kind of small talk Julius usually saved for minor dignitaries he didn’t like but didn’t want to be rude to, the kind that Malcolm didn’t normally respond to because rudeness was a strategic device in his toolkit. Tonight he responded, avoiding whatever it was that he’d asked Julius over to talk about, as they ate a meal that Julius couldn’t quite believe Malcolm had had the time to prepare. (If he had checked the kitchen, he would have seen the takeaway boxes, but he didn’t and in Malcolm’s defense it wasn’t often that he cheated. Only when he was stressed.)

(It was fairly often, then, that he cheated these days. Julius did him a kindness by deliberately never checking.)

After, with the dishes soaking in the sink, as they sat in the living room, Julius finally asked, “So what is this mysterious thing you needed to talk to me about?”

“I wanted to ask if you could-” Malcolm stopped himself and sighed, frowning. “That is, I know we’re—you know, and.”

“I’m getting worried, this is very unlike you. Please, just tell me.”

Scowling, Malcolm spat, “What do you want me to say, ‘Please, Julius, would you lock my cock in a cage and keep the key,’ because that’s a heavy thing to just throw out there.”

With a dismissing laugh, Julius sat back and said, “Yes, it would be, I suppose, but that’s-” His smile evaporated. “Sorry, what?”

“Never mind.” He was chewing his finger; the first time Julius had seen him do this, he’d thought Malcolm was biting his nails, but it was a bit different. He was nibbling at skin, a nervous habit of his that only came out once in a blue moon, and he was hunched forward sitting on the ottoman across from Julius, eyes downcast and shoulders tense. “It was a joke. I really am pregnant with Glenn’s child. Twins, actually.”

“You want me to-” Julius tried to wrap his mouth around the words and set them free, but found he could not.

“Yeah, it’s fucking weird, right? Surprise, I’m a creepy old pervert,” Malcolm said.

“No, now don’t do this, we’ve certainly done—stranger,” he said, feeling heat in his cheeks. He blushed too easily sometimes, he was perfectly fine with the things they did (except for the one thing they would never mention again, but it was only the one thing). The blushing was involuntary and not something he could change, so he ignored it and charged on. “If you would like this, I’m not sure I understand it, but fine. We can, we can try. That.”

Malcolm looked at him warily. “You sure?”

“Yes. I do wish you could explain the draw of it.” He held his hands up, attempting to placate, and quickly added, “I ask out of curiosity, that’s all.”

“I just like it, that’s all. It’s nothing.”

“It’s something,” Julius said. “Because the idea of someone doing that to me makes me want to run for the hills and never return.”

Anything even hinting at the personal or emotional was difficult to get out of Malcolm; he tended to keep things close to his chest, with the unfortunate effect of bottling things up until they exploded in the most magnificent ways. And so he sat on the ottoman, hands pressed straight down next to his thighs, shoulders hunched and legs close together as though he were trying desperately to take up as little space as possible. “I like,” he began, head tilted and eyes focused on a spot on the floor. Then he stopped.

“All right,” Julius said softly. “It’s nothing. Do you have a—cage, or device, in mind?”

“I have one in the bedroom,” he mumbled.

He mumbled. Julius was officially alarmed.

*

It was an odd thing that Julius held in his hand, one that made him not want to think too much about it, one that, when he looked at it, made his brain try to shift tracks and imagine anything else in its place. But Malcolm was looking at it pensively, looking at him pensively, one arm crossed over his belly and the other hand up by his mouth. “I’ve had it a while,” Malcolm said. “I just haven’t used it in a few years.”

“Since-?”

Malcolm sighed and rolled his eyes; Julius had to give him points for the effort, even asking for this seemed to make him uncomfortable, and talking about it more than necessary even more so. “Since Kelly.”

It had been some years since they’d broken up. Julius looked at Malcolm and then back down at the device he held. “And now, you want me to. That is.”

Exasperated, he waved his hand at the cage. “I want you to fucking lock up my cock and keep the key. Just, yes or no, and if it’s no, tell me quickly so I can go outside, find some rats, shove them in a box, and stick my head in that box and die, all right?”

“It’s yes,” Julius said quickly. “It was yes when you asked earlier, and it’s still yes. You’re going to have to show me how to put it on and take it off, though.”

Visibly relaxing and visibly annoyed that he was tense to begin with, Malcolm nodded. “Good. Okay. Let me-”

He showed Julius, in a surreal sort of moment where every move was a practical one, how to put the thing on and take it off. He explained that they’d start with keeping it on for short periods and build up to longer. Then Julius tried it, slowly, with more care than was likely necessary, glancing up at Malcolm’s face whenever he thought he could steal such a glance. He looked calmer. Something about having it on, this nicely built metal cage, the likes of which Julius had never seen and only heard about accidentally in the past, was a comfort to Malcolm and it gnawed at Julius that he didn’t know why. It was only when he took the tiny lock and began to close it that Malcolm began to speak again.

Hands clenched by his side, Malcolm said, “It’s just I like the reminder. That. Someone.”

Julius looked up at him and waited for him to finish. The seconds ticked by with no further words, so he clicked the lock into place, tucked Malcolm neatly back into his slacks, did up his fly and tugged his jumper back into place. He slipped the key, already on a chain, around his own neck, and tucked that chain under his shirt. “Yes, of course,” Julius said. He took Malcolm’s face in his hands and looked him in the eyes. “You want to make sure you can never get poor Glenn pregnant. What with your, your raging hormonal drive to-”

A smile finally, finally broke through as Malcolm said, “Oh, fuck off. I’m baring my heart to you, can I just have the moment?”

He dropped his hands to Malcolm’s shoulders and rubbed them almost instinctively. He didn’t look different, except for the sudden serenity on his face. He was still Malcolm. Except now there was a bit of metal strung around Julius’s neck, and something began bubbling to the surface. It was a secret between them, a tiny detail in the portrait of their relationship that only the two of them could see. Others would see the bickering, the banter, the occasional brush of hands in public—Julius had never gotten the hang of public displays of affection, and never would—but this was theirs. And Malcolm was his in a sweet, intimate sense he’d never thought to vocalize, the key around his neck a reminder that—“Ah,” Julius said. “I think I understand.”

He raised an eyebrow, cautious and slightly wary. “Really?”

Julius nodded. “You are in fact mine.”

Malcolm looked at him with deep relief. “Okay, good. That’s good. Only one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll have to break the news to Glenn.”

Julius shoved him lightly, then pulled him back for a kiss.


End file.
